Marta Mierendorff papers

Collection

Identifier: 0214

Staff Only

The Marta Mierendorff papers comprises correspondence, manuscripts, notes, and ephemera regarding the lives and work of many German-speaking emigre artists in Southern California. Furthermore it contains transcripts of various conferences on exile studies, articles, presentations, interview transcripts, Wim Wenders screenplays, and data sheets Marta Mierendorff created about various exiled German-speaking artists. The materials were collected by Marta Mierendorff (b. 1911), who was made Emeritus Research Professor in 1984 at USC.

Dates

1933 - 1985

Creator

Mierendorff, Marta (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE. Advance notice required for access.

Conditions Governing Use

The collection contains published materials; researchers are reminded of the copyright restrictions imposed by publishers on reusing their articles and parts of books. It is the responsibility of researchers to acquire permission from publishers when reusing such materials. The copyright to unpublished materials belongs to the heirs of the writers. Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository and the copyright holder.

Extent

40 Linear Feet (65 boxes)

Additional Description

Abstract

The collection consists of correspondence, manuscripts, notes, and ephemera regarding the lives and work of many German-speaking emigre artists in Southern California.

One focus of the collection are German Expressionist Theater director Leopold Jessner (1878-1945) and his brother-in-law, the actor and director Fritz Jessner (1889-1946), both of whom left Germany in the 1930s to escape the Nazi persecution of Jews. The collection also includes more extensive materials on Walter Wicclair, director William Dieterle, art-director Rudi Feld, Felix Jackson, the Mann family, Lion Feuchtwanger, and Elow as well as about the Jewish Club of 1933. Furthermore it contains transcripts of various conferences on exile studies, articles, presentations, interview transcripts, Wim Wenders screenplays, and data sheets Marta Mierendorff created about various exiled German-speaking artists.

The materials were collected by Marta Mierendorff (b. 1911), who was made Emeritus Research Professor in 1984 at USC.

Biographical note

Marta Mierendorff was born in Charlottenburg (Berlin), Germany in 1911. She received her doctorate in 1949 from Humboldt University in Berlin. In the 1950s, she turned to study of the sociology of art and co-founded the Institut fuer Kunstsoziologie in Berlin with Heinrich Tost in 1954.

In the late 1950s, Marta Mierendorff developed an interest in the study of German-speaking exiles from the National Socialist regime. She traveled to Los Angeles in 1964 and there began working on the history of the Jewish Club of 1933, whose members were German Jewish exiles. Marta Mierendorff moved to Los Angeles in 1966. In 1971, she became a professor in the Department of German at the University of Southern California. Professor Mierendorff continued her research on German-speaking refugees, who were active in theater, film, cabaret, and other cultural endeavors, and who came to the United States in the 1930s and 1940s. She also collected materials on their life and work. Considered a pioneer in the study of exiles, Marta Mierendorff was made Emeritus Research Professor in 1984 at USC.